QMI Agency

Eugenie Bouchard, the teen sensation from Westmount, Que., stormed all the way to the semifinal in Melbourne on Thursday, but lost in straight sets 6-2, 6-4 to No. 4 Li Na of China.

The 30th-ranked Bouchard was in trouble from the start of the match, down 5-0 in just 14 minutes of play. The second set was a much closer affair, but the more experienced Li used her 35 winners to Bouchard's 10 to close out the match in one hour and 26 minutes.

"I'm proud of how I've improved as a player throughout the tournament. But I'm never satisfied with losing. I'm always disappointed," Bouchard said in her post-match press conference. "I always want to go further and o better."

The 31-year-old Li will now faceSlovakia's Dominika Cibulkova in Saturday's final.

Bouchard, voted the WTA's top newcomer last season, is the first Canadian to qualify for an Australian Open semifinal.

Bouchard reached the semi after defeating Ana Ivanovic of Serbia 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 on Tuesday. She is expected to jump into the WTA's top 20 next week. Bouchard made her run to the final four one year after losing in the qualifying rounds in Australia.

"It's just a process," Bouchard said. "I learned a lot last year. I've been slowly making my way up. I don't want to stop here. I want to keep going."

Bouchard is expected to return to her hometown of Montreal next month to play in a Federation Cup tie against Serbia.

Meanwhile, Daniel Nestor fell short of adding another Australian Open doubles title to his resume.

The 41-year old Toronto native, playing alongside Serbia's Nenad Zimonjic, lost 6-2, 6-4 to American Eric Butorac and Raven Klaasen of South Africa in their men's doubles semifinal.

Nestor won his first and only Australian Open doubles title in 2002 with Mark Knowles of the Bahamas.

Nestor and Zimonjic were coming off a Sydney International victory in early January, their 25th team title.